In the past, chromium plating was the principal method used to successfully prepare gun barrels to combat wear and erosion.
One of the problems with the prior art electroplating method is that it is restricted to certain platable compositions which do not include refractory metals and alloys that could be advantageously used for gun barrel wear and erosion resistant applications. Another problem with electroplating gun barrels is that the process frequently causes hydrogen embrittlement. It is also difficult when electroplating the inside of a gun barrel to obtain a uniform coating and therefore the process is usually time consuming and costly.
A further problem with chromium electroplated gun barrels is that they fail to meet the extreme wear and erosion properties imposed by the latest hypervelocity, rapid fire gun systems presently being developed.